The Dark Reign Of Gothic Rock: In The Reptile House With The Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus And The Cure
| Book | The Dark Reign of Gothic Rock: In the Reptile House with the Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and the Cure |
| About/Subject | The Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus, The Cure, Goth Rock, Goth Rock, New Wave |
| Cover/Jacket Design by | Chris Wilson |
| Cover photo | Barry Plummer, Bleddyn Butcher |
| Copyright Holder | Dave Thompson |
| First Published by | Helter Skelter Publishing |
| Publisher | Helter Skelter Publishing |
| Printed by | The Bath Press |
| Typeset by | Caroline Walker |
| Format | Paperback |
| Language | English |
| Copyright | 2002 |
| Pages / Font | 288 pages |
| ISBN | 1-900924-48-X |
| Barcode | 9 781900 924481 |
| Price | UK £14.99 |
| Price | US $19.95 |
| Notes | Starkly lit and draped in fog, blatantly minimalist in an age when 'bigger' was generally regarded as 'better'. There was little to actually look at, but a great deal to watch, three figures choked in cloaking smoke, the now omnipresent hats and ponchos conjuring images that would not be out of place in a Peckinpah movie. And that was before the band kicked into either 'Phantom', with the ghosts of 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly' floating around its skeletal melody, or Dylan's 'Knocking On Heaven's Door', lifted straight from Peckinpah's own 'Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid'. Other bands have toyed with the taut, tense expectation that lay at the soul of the Sisters experience. But none before had ever captured it with such chilling calculation. From Joy Division to Nine Inch Nails and from Siouxsie to Marilyn Manson, gothic rock has endured as the cult of choice for alienated youth. But, during its heyday in the mid-eighties, when The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and The Cure dominated the independent scene, it was the underground alternative to the glossy throwaway pop of the day. Dave Thompson traces the roots of this golden era back to Iggy Pop's 'The Idiot'. Taking in Hammer House of Horror, Dennis Wheatley, and a myriad of other influences. Thompson charts the evolution of a sound through the Doctors of Madness, The despair of Joy Division and the pantomime horror of The Damned and beyond. From the brooding bass line of Bauhaus's 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' to the Wagnerian majesty of The Sisters' 'This Corrosion', from the haunting nihilism of The Cure's 'Faith' to the full on sonic assault of The Cult's 'She Sells Sanctuary', this much maligned musical genre produced some of the most energising and enduring music of the era. So, release the bats, turn the page, and enter The Reptile House. |
Added by Laxevaag · Last edited by xenaxis